1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to a motor housing for a vacuum cleaner which is constructed such that a motor for generating suction power of the vacuum cleaner can be accommodated therein and an inner constitution of a main body of the vacuum cleaner can be simultaneously simplified.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Referring first to FIG. 1, the constitution of a conventional vacuum cleaner will be described.
As shown in this figure, a main body of the vacuum cleaner comprises an upper casing 110 and a lower casing 170 which form upper and lower portions of the main body, respectively. The upper and lower casing 110, 170 contain the following components therein.
A motor housing 160 and a dust collection unit 140 are installed at front and rear regions of a top surface of the lower casing 170, respectively. The dust collection unit 140 filters out foreign substances from air containing the foreign substances which has been introduced into the main body of the vacuum cleaner, and exhausts the filtered air via the motor housing 160 to the exterior.
Any types of dust collection units can be used for the dust collection unit 140 as far as they can filter out the foreign substances contained in the air which is drawn into the main body of the vacuum cleaner. For example, the dust collection unit 140 may be one capable of performing both a primary dust collection in a cyclone manner and a secondary dust collection by a filter.
Further, a driving motor 150 for generating suction power of the vacuum cleaner is mounted within the motor housing 160 installed at the front region of the lower casing 170. The motor housing 160 is formed to be open at an upper end thereof, and the suction power generated by the operation of the driving motor 150 mounted within the motor housing 160 causes the air containing the foreign substances such as dust to be introduced into the dust collection unit 140.
With the suction power generated as such, the air containing the foreign substances, which has been drawn through a suction nozzle, an extension tube and a connecting hose, is introduced into the main body of the vacuum cleaner via a suction portion 112 formed at a front region of the upper casing 110. Such introduced air is filtered in the dust collection unit 140 to remove the substances. The air from which the foreign substances have been removed is exhausted through an outlet 142 formed at an upper region of the dust collection unit 140 and then introduced into the motor housing 160. Since the motor housing 160 remains in a state where the upper end thereof is open, the air introduced through the open upper end passes through the driving motor 150 to remove heat therefrom and then is exhausted through an exhaust portion 162 formed at a side of the motor housing 160.
An intermediate cover 120 is installed above the dust collection unit 140 and the motor housing 160. The intermediate cover 120 is a part for simultaneously covering top faces of the motor housing 160 and the dust collection unit 140. The top face of the motor housing 160 is covered with a motor housing covering portion 124 on a side of the immediate cover 120 so that portions excluding a suction portion 125 and the exhaust portion 162 are hermetically closed and thus the suction power can be generated.
A pressure switch B is mounted in a switch mounting hole 128 of the immediate cover 120. The pressure switch B is configured to measure pressure in the motor housing 160 and to notify a user of abnormal status of the vacuum cleaner when the pressure is dropped.
The motor housing covering portion 124 for covering the top face of the motor housing is formed with a damper mounting hole 126 and the switch mounting hole 128 so as to communicate with the motor housing. A damper mounted in the damper mounting hole 126 is configured to be opened according to a difference in pressure between the top and bottom of the motor housing covering portion 124. When the pressure in the top of the immediate cover 120 is higher than that in the bottom thereof, the damper is opened so that the air is introduced into below the immediate cover 120 (i.e., into the motor housing).
According to the conventional constitution, the motor housing 160 comes into close contact with the motor housing covering portion 124 to define a space therebetween, and the suction power is generated by the driving motor 150 mounted in the space. Therefore, since the immediate cover 120 is required as an additional part, there is a disadvantage in that the number of parts in the main body of the vacuum cleaner is substantially increased.
Further, since the motor housing 160 and the immediate cover 120 are fastened with each other by using screws, there is another disadvantage in that such a fastening operation causes the entire productivity of the vacuum cleaner to be lowered.